swensen



A. SWENSEN. Auomn'lc MusncAL msrnumzm. APPLICATION FILED OCT-9.1916.

Patented Nov. 18g-1919.

,Il l ff A. SWENSEN. AUTOMAIIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. nPPuc/mon mso ocr.9.me.

Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHUI' 2.

yio

y STATES PATENT OFFICE,

ALFRED SWENSEN, OF CICERO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 THE CABLE COMPANY, OF

` CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

Application Siled October 9, 1916. Serial No. 124,690.

To all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED SwnNsEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cicero, in the county of Cook and'State of, Illinois, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Musical Instruments,of which the following is a full, ehe-ar, concise, und exactdescription, reference being liad'to the accompanying drawing/,I forminga part of this specification.

l invention relates to automatic musical instruments, and, morespecifically, to a device. for varying the degree of air-tensionproduced by an air-pump.

Among the objects of my invention is that of providing a device of thischaracter which shall be simple in construction, etlicient in operation,and easy of adjustment.

In thc drawings, in which one. embodiment of my invention is shown-Figure 1 is a front elevation of a playerpiano, the upperfront panelbeing broken away to show the roll-box, and lthe lower front panel beingbrolren away to show the airump and expression-device;

Fig. 2is a section through the expressiondevice, on the line 2--2 ofFig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a section through the expressiondevice, on the line 3--3l ofFig. 2;

Fig 4 is a detail sectional view of part of a pneumatic-linger' 'andFig. 5 is a bottom View of the part shown in Fim 4.

Reiarring now to the drawings in detail, the player-piano showncomprises a casing 1.0, a roll-box 11 located in the upper part of the,casing, a motor-driven air-pump 12 for exhausting the air from theaction wind-l chest and music roll motor, conduits 13 and 14 leadingfrom the wind-chest to the airpump, an expression-device 15 for varyingthe degree of air-tension'produced in the wind-chest by the air-pump,and n conduit 16 leading from the expression-device to the conduit. 13.

The air-pum operates to exhaust the air from the win -chest through theconduits 13 and 14, and the expression-device operates to modify theair-tension produced b'y the air-pump by admitting atmospheric air moreor less freely through the conduit 16 to the conduit 13.,l Theexpression-device 15 may be controlled automatically, from thenote-sheet 16", or manually, by means of the. valve-mechanism 17.

The exiiession-device itself comprises a series of c ambcrs 18, 19, 20,91, and 22, separated by partitions 23, 24, 25, and 26, euch twoadjacent chambers being in communication with each other through one ofthe ports 27, 28, 29, and 30. The chamber 18 is in communication withthe atmosphere through the port 3.1, and the chamber 29. is incoinmunication with the conduit 16 through the port'32. The flow,through the ports 27, 28, '29, and 30, is controlled by'means ofsuhstantially similar valve-mechanisms 33, 34, 35, and 36, respectively.Each of these valve-mechanisms isfmovable, from a position in which itpermits a substantially free tiow of air through its port to a positionin which it oli'ers a yielding resistance to the flow of air, by moansof a pneumatic 37 which acts on a lever 38, on which the valve )roper 39is yieldably mounted. Au adjustable stop 40 limits the valve-closingmovement of the lever 38. A spring 40 acts on the lever 38 and tends tohold the. pneumaticV 37 collapsed. Each of the pneumatics 37 iscontrolled from the tracker 41 through one of the'conduits 42, '13, 44,and 45, leading from the tracker to the junction -and valve-block 46,one of the conduits 47, 48, 49,and 50. leading from the junction andvalve-block 46, to the valve-actions 51, 52, 53, and 54, respectively,and one of the conduits 55, 56, 57, and 5S, leading from thevalve-actions to the pneumatica 37, respectively. Thc ort 31 iscontrolled by means of an adjustable, yielding, pressure-operated-valve-mechanism 58,

The lever 3S is pivotally mounted at 59 ou a fulcruiu-block 60 and isprovided, at one end with a felt pad 61 for engagement with the meumatic3T, and, at its other end, with a ,telt pad 62 for engagement with thestop 40. The valve 39 is secured to a stein 63, the upper end of whichslides in a guide 64, and the lower end of which extends through-anolpeninrir in the lever 38 and has a washer 65 s ippedD over it and. anut 66 threaded onto it.. For yieldably supporting the valve 39 on thelever 38, a coil-Spring 67 is provided which surrounds the stem 63. Whenthe valve 39 is opened, this sprin acts on the valve to hold it as farfrom tie lever 38 as the nut 66 will permit. lVheu the valve is raisedby the lever 38, the spring 67 is further compressed, the degree ofcompression being determined by the setting of the stop 40. To preventfluttering of the valve 39 when in raised position, a bellows dash-pot68 is interposed between the valve and the lever 38, being supported onthe latter and having a finger 69 0n its movable leaf extending betweenthe s ring. 67 and the valve 39. The bellows das i-pot consists in thisinstance', of a small bellows provided with a small leak-vent not shown,the arrangement of which ma be substantially the same as shown in myatent No. 1,231,809, dated July 3, 1917, upon automatic musicalinstruments, application filed June 28, 1916, which prevents a too rapidvibration of the bellows and thus checks any undesirable lluttering ofthe valve 39, but permits the normal o eration of the valve andcompression of t e sp'ring 67. The finger 69 has a circular recess 69(Figs. 4 and 5) in the lower side, in.

which the upper end of the spring 67 seats, and an o ening 69", throughwhichthe stem 63 extent s. For convenience, a slot^69c leads to theopening 69", through which slot the stem 63 can be passed, inassembling. If desired, thesprings 67 for the different valves 39 may bemade of dierent strengths. Each stop comprises a bent lever 70,pivotally mounted on a fulcrum 71 and adjusted by means o'f a button 72.The button is secured to a stem 73, which extends through a notch 74onthe lever and is threaded into a U-shaped nut 75, the arms of whichstraddle the lever 70 to prevent the nut from rotating when the button72 is turned. Threads on the stems 73 are made left-hand, so thatclock-wise turning of each button 72 causes and a bellows dash-pot 82the horizontal arm of the respective lever to be raised to ermit thecorresponding pad 62 torise hig er and a greater tension to be put onthe respective spring 67 when its pneumatic 37 is ex ande hefulcrum 71comprises a screw 6 extending through an opening 77 in the lever 70, anda felt washer 7 betweenl the lever 70 and the wall of the chamber. Thescrew 76 extends loosely through the opening 77 to permit the leversupporting the lever to ho d the lowered e of the opening 77 against thescrew 76 an( thus revent rattling.

Ihe va ve-mechanism 58 comprises the valve proper 79, a bent leaf,spring-lever 8() for supporting the valve 79, a button 81 for adjustingthe tension of the s ring-lever 80, or preventing fluttering of thevalve 79. The construction of the bellows dash-pot 82 ma besubstantially the same as that of the llows dashpot 68, alreadydescribed. The button 81 1s secured to a stem 83, which is threaded intoa U-shaped nut 84, which straddlcs the spring-lever to revent the nutfrom rotating. The threa on the part of the stem 83 engaging the nut, ismade right-hand, so

that clock-wise turning of the button 81 w.. l increase the resistanceof the valve 79 to the flow of air. Thevalve-actions 51, 52, 53, and 54,may be of any usual or suitable type. Each comprises a double valve 85,actuated by a diaphragm 86 controlled 'from the tracker. n the loweredposition of each valve 85, the respective pneumatic 37 is incommunication with the exhaust ill the valve-action windfchest 87 and,through the conduit 88, with the exhaust in the chamber 22 (the pressureinside and outside of the pneumatic thus being substantially equal); andin the raised position of the valve the pneumatic 37 is in communicationwith the atmosphere, which causes the pneumatic to expand and move thelever 38 until the pad 62 strikes thestop 40', the lever 38 in itsmovement bringing the valve 39 into ositlon to retard the flow of airthrong its port. The manually operable valve-mechanism 17 comprises aslide-valve 89, movable to admit air selectively to any one of theconduits 47 48, 49, and 50,

In operation, the air-pump 12 is driven to exhaust air from thewind-chest through the conduits 13 and 14, and the expressiond evice 15is operated/to modify the air-tension, produced by the air-pump, byadmitting all' more or less freely through the conduit 16 to the conduit13, such operation of the expression-device being controlled eitherautomatically, by means of the perforations in the note-sheet 16", ormanually, by means of the slide-valve 89. By means of the noteslet, anyone, or any combination, of the vz, e-mechanisms 33, 34, 35,' and 36,may be' moved to a position t9 restrict, the flow of air through theirrespective ports. If all of the valvesare openI the flow of air throughthe expression-device is practically unimpeded, except by theyieldingvalve 79. By adjusting the buttons 72, so that each of the yieldingvalves will offer a different degree of resistance to the How of air,and by using various combinations of the yielding valves, the totalresista-nce offered to thc flow of air through the ex`nession-devicc maybe varied, either gradually or suddenly, over a wide range. Thisvariable resistance of the flow of air through the expressiondevice, ofcourse, results 1n n corresponding variation of the air-tension producedin the conduit 14 and wind-chest of the instrument, the tension in thewind chestincreasing with the increased resistance in theexpressiondevice and decreasing as the resistance decreases.

llaving thus described my invention what 1 claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

l. An automatic musical instrument. comprising an exhaust air-pumpandmeans for varyin the degree of air-tension produced by sai air-pumpcomprising a chamber in Aiii :direction to act upon lsaid ing anair-admission rt, and means for controlling said port including amovable' member, a valve, and yieldable means actin between saidmemberand said valve; sai member bein movable in one direction to move saidvave from said port and in an other direction to act upon said yieldablemeans to cause said valve to yieldingly obstruct the flow of air throughsaid port. 2. An automatic musical instrumentcom- "rising an exhaust.air-pump and means ervarying the degree of air-tension. produced bysaid air-pumpcomprising a chamber in communication with said air-puinpand havin .an airgadmission port, andmeans for contro ling said portincluding a movable member, la valve,l yieldable means acting betweensaid member and said valve, and

`means for actuating said member; said inember beingmovable in onedirection to 'move said valve frommsaid port and in another ieldablemeans tocause said valve to yie d ing'ly obstruct the flow of airthrough s aidport.

3. A n automatic musical'instrument comprising an exhaust air-pump andmeans for varyin the degree of air-tension produced by sai''air-pumpcomprising a chamber in communication with said air-pump'a'ndhavingLaii air-admission poi-t, and means for controlling .said port4including 'a movable me rnber,'a valvaeldable means actingfbetweensaid'amem r Vand said..,va lve, y and sheet-controlled means -foractuati said member; said member beingimovable in one direction `-tomove'l said valve. fromv said port ar'idfin" another direction to actupon s 'aid yielding'iieans to cause said valve to yieldingly o I ructthe flow of air through said automatic musical instrument com prising-anexhaust air-pnmp andmeans for varyin the degree of air-tension producedby sai air-pump. comprisinga chamber in communication with saidair-.pump and h aving an air-admission4 art,.andl means -for controllingsaid. .port including a movable member, a valve, yieldable means actingbel.

tween said member .and'said valve; and a pneumatic for actuating saidmember; said member being movablein one direction to,

movesaidvalve from said port andfin `another direction to ac t upon'saidl Qyieldable means to cause said valveto yieldin'gly ob; struct theflow of air through said port.

5. An automatic musical instrument comprising an. exhaust air-pump'. andm'eans for varyin the degree of air-tension producedby sai air-pumpcomprising a chamber in communication with said air-,pump and-havinganair-admission rt, and means controlling said valve, an yielda lemeans-acting in'one Vdirection upon said lever and in' another difor ortincludingv a lever, a.

rectioii upon said valve; said lever b eing movable to move said valvefrom a position in which it does not materially obst-ruct .the flow ofair throu h said port to a osition in whichA it isie dably held by saiyieldin means to o struct said flow.

An automatic musical instrument comprising an exhaust air-pump and meansfor varyin the degiee of air tension produced by sai air-pliiiipcomprising a chamber i'i communication withsaid air-pump and having anair-adiiiisson port, and means for controlling said poi-t including amovable member, a valve, 'ieldablc means acting between' said mem ci'and said valve, and a stop for limiting the action of said member uponsaid yieldable means; said member being movable in one direction to movesaid valve from said port and iii another direction to act upon said,vieldiible means to cause said valve to-yieldingly obstruct the flow ofair through said port.

7. An automatic musical instrument comprising an exhaust air-pump andmeans for varyin the degree of air-tension produced by sai air-pumpcomprising a chamber iii communication with sind a-ir-piiiiip and havingii'ii"aii' adiiiission port, and means for controlling said portincluding a movable member, a valve yieldahle means acting between saidmember and said valve, and an adjustable stop for liiiiitiii the iictionof said member upon said yieldable means; said member being inova'ble inone direction to move said 'valve from said port and in anotherdirection to act upon said yieldable means to cause said valve toyieldingly'ohstruct `the flow of air through said port.

V8. An automatic musical instrument com- 'prising an exhaust air-pumpand means for varyin `thedegree of 'air-tension produced bysai -air-pumpcomprising a 'chamber in vcommunication with sind air-punip andhaving'an airadmission ort, and means for Vcontrolling said portincluding a iiiovablo meiiihci', a valve, yieldable means acting be--tweeli sai( .member and. said '.viilic, and a i dash-'pot member forsaid valve' to prevent fluttering of the valve; said movable memberbeing movable in one direction to move `said valve from saidport and inanother direction to act upon said. yieldable means tofcause said valveto yieldingly obstruct the kflaw of air through said port.

9." An automatic musical instrument coinprising an exhaust air-piimp andmeans for varying the'degree of air-tension produced by said air-pumpcomprising a cha'iiiher in communication'witli said air-pump and-havingan air-admission ort, and means for controlling said poit including amovable member, a valve, yieldablemeans acting betweensaid 'member andsaid valve, and a bellows dash-pot member for said valve to preventfluttering of the valve; said movltl able member being movable in onedirection to move said valve from said ort and in another direction toact upon said ieldable means to cause said valve to yieldingly obstructthe tiow of air thiough said port.

10. An automatic musical instrument com? controlling said port includinga movable,

member, a valve yieldablevmeans actin between said member and saidvalve, la ashpot member for said v alve to prevent fiuttering of thevalve, and means f or actuating said movable member; said movable memberbeing movable in one direction to move said valve from said port and inanother direction to act ii )on said yieldable means to causo saidvallve to yieldingly obstruct the flow of air through said port.

11. An automatic musical instrument comprising an exhaust ar-puinp andmeans for vai'yin r the degree of air-tension produced by sait air-piimpcomprising a chamber in cxnnnnmication with said air-puiiip and havingan air-admission ort, and means for controlling said port including-amovable member, a valve, yieldable means actin between said member andsaid valve, a ashpot member for said valve to prevent fluttering of thevalve, and a pneumatic for actiiiiting said movable member; said movablemember being movable in one direction to move. said valve from said portand in another direction to net upon said yieldable means to cause saidvalve to yieldingly obstruct the floiv of air through said port.

12. An ex ression-device for varying the degree of airtension producedby an.air pump, comprising a chamber in communication with saidair`lnnip and having .an airadmssion port, and means for controllingsaid port includinr a movable member, a valve, and yieldiib e meansactin between said member and said valve; sai member being movable inone direction to move said valve from said port and in another directionto act upon said yieldable means to enlise said valve to yieldinglyobstruct the flow of air through said port.

13. An ex ressioii-device for varying the degree of air-tensionlproduced by an airpuiiip, comprising a c iiiiiiber in communicationwith said air-pump and having an air-admission port., and means forcontrol- ,ling said poi't`in'rluding a movable-member.

a valve, yieldnble means acting between said member and said valve, anadjustable stop for limiting the movement of said member, and means foractuating said member; said member being` movable in one direction tomove said valve from said port and in another direction to act upon saidyieldable Lacasse means to cause said valve to yieldingly obstruct the'flow of air through said.port.

14. An expression-device for varying the degree of air-tension producedby an airunip, comprising two chambers, a I'rt afording communicationbetween sai chambers, an air-inlet port to one of said chamcause said-valve to yiel ingly obstructthe flow of air through said port.

15. Ari expression-device for varying the degree of air-tension.produced by an lairpump, comprising two chambers, a rt affordingcommunication between sai lchambers, an air-inlet port to one of saidchambers, the other chamber being provided with means affordingcommunication with the air-piniip, a yielding valve for said inlet portactuated by the air-pressure on said valve, and means f'or controllingthe other said portincluding a movable member, a valve, yieldable meansacting betweencaid member and said valve, an adjustable stop forlimiting the movement of said member and means for actuating saidmember; sai member bein move said va ve from said port' and in an--other direction to act upon said yieldable means to cause said valve toieldinglyobstruct the flow of air througli' said port.

16.' A device for varying the degree of airtension reduced by anair-pump, having a series'o ports through which the same air flowssuccessively, yielding valve-means for controllin the flow through oneof said ports, an( means for controlling the flow through another ofsaid ports wmprisiiig a niova ile memberfa valve yieldably supportedwith-respect to said member, and means for mounting said member to movesaid valve from a ositio in which it does notmaterially oistruct theflow of nir through its port to a position in which it otiers avielding` resistance to said fiow; said Wirtcontrolling deviet` -beingin seriesarrangement,

whereby tlieiaeti'eetjs cumulative.

1T. A device for .vaiving the degrw of air-tension produced by anair-piiinp,- havini,r a series of ports through which the saine airflows successively. yielding valve-means movable in one direction to forcontrolling-the flow through one of said for mounting said member tomove said other dreet'mmhold said valvetoyieldingly valve from aposition in which it does not obstruct the"ow of airthroiigh said port,materially obstruct the flow of air through and a dashpot member forsaid valve to its ort to a position in which it olers a preventfluttering-of the valve. l yiel ing resistance to said flow, and means22. An automatic.musicalinstrument comfor actiia-tin said member; saidport-com. prising an exhaust. air-pump and means for trolling devicesbein in series arrangevaryin 4the degree of air-tension produced ment,whereby their ci ect is cumulative. by sai air-pump comprising a.chamber in 18. An automatic musical instrument comcommunication withsaid air-pump and havprising an exhaust air-pump and means for ing anair-admission port, and means for viiryin f the degree of air-.tensionproduced controlling said port including a valve, a b v sai air-pumpcomprising ii chamber in communication with said air-puinp and havsaidvalve, yieldable means through which ing an air-admission port, andmeans for said member may, upon movement in ancontrolling said portincluding a valve, u other direction, hold said valve to yieldmembermovable in one direction to open ingly obstruct the flow of air throu lisaid "said valve, and yieldable means through s port, and a. bellowsdash-potmem er for which said member may, upon movement in said valve toprevent fluttering of the valve. another direction, hold said valve toyield- 23. An automatic musical instrumentcomingly obstruct the flow ofair through said prisiiigiaii exhaust air-pump and means for rt.' varyinthe degree of air-tension'pro'duced 19. An automatic musical instrumentcomvby sai air-pump comprising a chamber in prising an exhaust air-pumpand means for communication with said air-pump and havvarying the degreeof air-tension produced ing an air-admission port, and means vfor bysaid air-pump comprising ii chamber in controlling said port including avalve, a communication with said air-pump und liavmember movable in onedirection to open ing` an air-admissionJport', and means. for saidvalve, yieldeb1e means through which controlling said-portincludin a.valvbhg., said member ma u'pon movement in aniuember'movable-in onedirection todopenfl,v other-direction, liold said valve to yieldsaidvalve, said membei` being movable' also' ingly obstruct the ow of airthrough said in a second direction, Ayieldable means port, a dash-potmember for said valve to th'rough which said member may, upon preventuttering' ofthe vulve, and means movement in said second directiomholdsaid for actuating said movable member.

said valve to yieldingly -'obstruct the flow "Rive t0 yeldngly bStllClthe lOW 0f uil* 24. An automatic musical instrument-comthrough said'port, and a stop for limiting, prising an exhaust air-pump and means forthe movement of said member in second divaryi the degree of air-tensionproduced rection. l by sai` air-pump comprising a chamber in 20. Anautomatic musical instrument com-, communication with said air-pump andhavprisng an exhaust air-pump and means for ing anjair-admission ort,and means for varying the degree .0f airtension produced eontrollingsaidport including a valve, a by said air-pump comprising a chamber inmember movable in one direction to open comn'iunication with saidair-pumpand havsaid valve, yeldable means through which ing anair-admission eport, and means for Seid membepma, upon movement in an.controlling said port including a valve, aother direction, hold said,valve to yieldiiieniber movable -in one direction to open ingly obstructthe flow of air through said said valve, said member being movable alsoport, a dash-.pot member for Said valveV to in a second direction,yieldable means prevent fluttering ofthe valve,.and a pneu. throughwhich said member may, upon vmatic-for actuating said movable member.movement -in said '.secondd-irection, hold-'5 25. An eik-pression devicefor varying the degree' of air-tension vproduced by an' airad ustablcpump, comprising a chamber in communicaof air. through said port, and anstop for limiting the movenie'nt of said meinnien-with said air-.pumpand having an airlier in second dlirectionr- 21. An automa admissionport, and 'mea-nsfor controlling `ic musicalzmstruiiient oom- Uls'aidrt,inc.luding avalve, a membei.niov pi-sng an exhaust air-pump andm'eans for able' inione direction' to open said valve, and vaiving thedegree Iofair-.tension produced yeldable means through which said memberby said air-pump comprising a chamber in may, uponmovement in anotherdirection, communication with said air-pump and havhold said v alve toyieldingly obstruct the ing an air-admission rt, .and means for .-'fiowlo f air-through said port. controlling said ,port'including a valve, aIn witness whereof, I have member movable in ,one direction to openscribed myname.4 said valve, yieldable means thronghwhich i said membermay, upon movement in nn- ALFRED SWENSEN.

hereunto submaf-a

